Eef Barzelay - Lose Big (2008)

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Certainly one of the most criminally overlooked records of 2008, Lose Big is actually the second effort from Mr. Barzaley. Best known for his work heading indie darlings Clem Snide, Barzaley has created one of his most satisfying collections to date. Lose Big comes across sounding somewhere in between Clem Snide’s brand of melancholy pop and the organic sound of 2006’s Bitter Honey. Lose Big is a stripped-down rock-trio affair, but Barzelay’s songwriting and arranging are sharper and wittier than ever.

The opening Could be Worse could be a lost late-period Guided by Voices song, while the jazzy How Dare They is classic Barzelay. Standout (and personal favorite) Numerology may just be the most perfect pop song you haven’t heard this year. Barzelay’s songwriting and arranging are sharper and wittier than ever, as well — on The Girls Don’t Care, he advises his fellow musicians not to bother with long solos and mumbled brooding. The girls aren’t impressed, he says; they just want to hear “a sweet melody.” Barzelay delivers plenty of catchy tunes, but there’s an ache in his voice, as if he’s thinking of all the girls he has never impressed and never will.

One of this records most enduring qualities is the minimal percussion throughout that enhance these light, hook-filled tunes. Light and airy Lose Big will surely an album you are humming to all summer long. As tuneful and optimistic as the melodies usually are, the vocals are often melancholy. And as fetching as the harmonies are, the rhythms can be herky-jerky, as if tugged in two directions at once. The result is a confession of ambivalence that makes this Barzelay’s most personal album yet.